Daniel Cormier’s Injured Hand to Determine His Fate

Lost in the hysteria of Daniel Cormier’s (Pictured) knockout victory over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on Saturday night was the fact that the same right hand that put Bigfoot down could sideline him for an extended period of time. If the injury were to eliminate him from the finals of Strikeforce’s Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament, the irony behind his exit would be off the charts.

“I hurt my hand on the very first right hand when he went down,” Cormier shared at the post-fight press conference. “When he got up, I was like, ‘How am I going to get through 15 minutes with my hand hurting like this?’ But I kept going. I kept throwing it.”

Cormier wasn’t one of the original eight heavyweights selected to compete in the tourney, but after former champ Alistair Overeem opted to forgo his semifinals scrap against Bigfoot, the 32-year-old finally received an invite to the party as an alternate. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker plans for the HW GP to conclude sometime in the first quarter of 2012, so Cormier has some time for his haymaker to heal.

If his impending X-Ray reveals the former All-American wrestler will be sidelined well into the new year, Coker suggested they may need to find a substitute for the substitute. However, Plan A for Coker is to keep him in his finals scrap against Josh Barnett.

“If Daniel wasn’t available for an extended period of time, we’d consider another opponent [to face Barnett],” Coker stated. “We’ll wait and see how his hand is after X-rays.”

Cormier’s hand was bandaged while he sat front and center to watch Barnett easily dispose of Sergei Kharitonov his semifinals matchup. His mitt appeared in the same condition at the post-fight presser, as well.